This invention relates to an interactive foreign language translating method and apparatus for generating, from sentences of a composition, words, phrases, clauses, etc., in a first natural language, sentences or a composition in a second natural language.
Much research and development is occurring regarding systems for mechanically translating compositions from Japanese to English or from English to Japanese by means of computers. These systems are now in a form they can be put to practical use on condition that the subject matter to be translated is limited to particular kinds of compositions such as technical documents and manuals, and manual checks are utilized in the course of translation.
The prior art translation systems are grouped into the following three types:
The first type is an "electronic dictionary" in which the corresponding words are consulted.
The second type is one translating comparatively simple sentences as well as definite sentences and common sentences, in which with examples of these sentences previously stored, parts of the sentence being translated are replaced by other words and thereafter the entire sentence is translated. An example of this second type is an "electronic translating machine" disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 56-145461.
There has been also proposed a system in which after illustrative sentences have been provided, some changes about information, etc. are referred to the user. An example of this is disclosed in an article "one approach of on-line translation" by Fukushima and Arita, in the Information Processing Society of Japan, Natural Language Research Group Documents 41-5 (Jan. 26, 1984).
The third type is one translating complicated sentences of any sentence pattern by means of the parsing or syntactic analysis thereof. An example of this type is disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 55-102071.
The above three types of translation systems have the following problems, respectively.
The first type can translate compound words (common phrases of the pattern of noun plus noun) and set phrases, but not make compositions and only serves to economize the labor of manually consulting a dictionary.
The second type can make sentences through simple and easy methods. Since it is the user who selects illustrative sentences, however, the work of selection become complicated with the number of the illustrative sentences is increased. In order to obviate this, there have been methods for reducing the number of the illustrative sentences to be selected, by the classification thereof into fields of use or the provision of variable terms to similar illustrative sentences.
The third type does not require the work of selecting illustrative sentences, and so permits high quality translations even with numbers of the translation rules to be used and translatable illustrative sentences are increased. This type, however, has very great technical difficulty because of complexity of natural languages and so has a strong possibility of the failure in parsing. When this type of system is used for a general purpose, an output composition is not placed in a certain form of composition and is derived in the form substantially equal to literal translation.
On the other hand, abstracts and the like of articles and patents require the compositions to contain necessary information, and must be translated in foreign languages in large amount. Such abstracts are often subjected to mechanical retrieval.
A method suitable to translate such documents has been awaited.